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Surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry using TiO2-coated steel targets for the analysis of small molecules

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Abstract

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI–MS) measurements in the low-molecular-mass region, ranging from 0 to 1000 Daltons are very often difficult to perform because of signal interferences originating from matrix ions. In order to overcome this problem, a stainless steel target was coated with a homogeneous titanium dioxide layer. The layer obtained was further investigated for its ability to desorb small molecules, e.g., amino acids, sugars, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) 200, or extracts from Cynara scolymus leaves. The stability of the layer was determined by repeated measurements on the same target location, which was monitored by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) before and after surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization (SALDI) analysis. In addition, this titanium dioxide layer was compared with an already published method with titanium dioxide nanopowder as inorganic matrix. As a result of this work, the titanium dioxide layer produced minimal background interference, enabling simple interpretation of the detected mass spectra. Furthermore, the TiO2 coating provides a target that can be reused many times for SALDI–MS measurements.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Austrian Proteomics Platform APP (Vienna, Austria) and by the SpezialForschungsBereich SFB (Vienna, Austria). The authors thank Dr Kristian Pfaller from the department of Embryology and Histology of the Medical University of Innsbruck for the preparation of the SEM data, and the Bionorica Company for the provision of the Cynara scolymus extracts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Radiochemistry, Leopold-Franzens University, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Harald Sonderegger, Mariska Klerks, Matthias Rainer, Rania Bakry, Christian W. Huck & Günther K. Bonn

  2. Institute of Physical Chemistry, Leopold-Franzens University, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Christoph Rameshan, Harald Lorenz & Frederik Klauser

  3. Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck-Society, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Christoph Rameshan

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  1. Harald Sonderegger
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  2. Christoph Rameshan
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  9. Günther K. Bonn
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Correspondence to Günther K. Bonn.

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Sonderegger, H., Rameshan, C., Lorenz, H. et al. Surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry using TiO2-coated steel targets for the analysis of small molecules. Anal Bioanal Chem 401, 1963–1974 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-011-5255-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-011-5255-1

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